Defective (Fractured Era Book 1)

by Autumn Kalquist

  “When this is taken care of, we’re all going to have a talk.” His uncle didn’t look at him. “Sometimes the right choice isn’t always immediately apparent.”

  “How can you justify giving the sheriff Selene’s address when you know she’s hiding from the Coalition?”

  His uncle let out a heavy sigh and slapped a piece of paper down on the counter. “Here,” he said gruffly. “You got lucky. He got called into the station. A conference call with Headquarters.”

  Anders’ pulse picked up as he looked at the address scratched on the paper. “My dad said I can go talk to her?”

  “No.” Uncle Jay scowled. “But you’re right. You have a better chance to get what your dad needs. Be careful when you go over there… Lydia has guns. Use your walkie, and keep me updated. And you better get that bitstorage card, because I’m walking back into that office, and when I call your dad on the walkie and tell him what I did… I’m going to get fire rained down on me. Do not make me regret it.”

  “I won’t. You’ll see.” Anders grinned. “I’ll have that bitstorage card back here in an hour.”

  Bright light stabbed through Selene’s eyelids, and she groaned and rolled over. Something bit into her cheek, and the scent of grass and soil filled her nostrils.

  Murmuring.

  People talking.

  She jolted upright, looking around, fear making her dizzy. A car drove by, and the occupants looked at her with curiosity. Then another passed. She slapped a hand over her chest, feeling her windbreaker, zipped. Her gun felt heavy on her throbbing hip. But it was hidden, at least.

  Where am I?

  Selene crouched down in the grass, mind hazy and racing. The sky had shades of red and orange. She could still see the moon, but the sun would be out soon. Almost dawn, then. She’d gone right last night, walking through the dark. The road had snaked for miles and then dead-ended… and she’d turned right again. She’d sat down to rest… and now here she was.

  “Honey, are you okay?”

  Selene turned around abruptly, eyes wide.

  Two older ladies stood a few feet away at the end of a sidewalk. One of them had a small gray dog, and it yipped at Selene.

  The woman took a step back when Selene looked at her, and she grabbed her friend’s sleeve.

  “Do you need us to call someone?” The other woman asked.

  Another car drove by, and Selene stumbled to her feet and took a few steps away from the women.

  “No. No, I’m okay.” Her voice came out hoarse, her heart racing. Had the suspicious one glimpsed her gun?

  Shit. Behind the women, where the sidewalk began, the highway stretched into the distance, everything unfamiliar. Houses started a few yards ahead, and the woods thinned.

  Selene whirled around and started walking in the other direction. There were almost no houses that way, and the woods grew thicker, with only the occasional road punctuating the forest.

  Selene could feel the women still staring at her back, could hear them talking in low voices. What if they called the cops? Would they? They’d found a strange girl lying in the grass at dawn, and what if the suspicious one had seen her gun when she’d been asleep? Her throat closed, and she tried to walk faster.

  Cars drove past, one every few minutes. Infrequent, but a road this busy before dawn was only going to get worse.

  A car honked, and Selene jumped. Her hand immediately went to her gun, and she swallowed back bile and started walking faster, doing her best not to look at the cars passing her.

  Selene saw a road ahead, to her left, and started jogging for it. Her heart sank as she reached it. It was just a paved drive that led into a housing development behind the trees.

  Had she passed this last night and not noticed? There had been some houses… some lights. Had she turned once… or twice? Had there been two dead-ends? Panic began to rise in Selene’s chest, making it hard to breathe. Nan would be worried sick by now.

  Selene’s muddled thoughts overwhelmed her, making her question her sense of direction.

  Just keep going. She knew, at least, she hadn’t walked that sidewalk in the other direction.

  Another car beeped, and Selene forced herself to slow down. She couldn’t be running in a place filled with people who might try to stop her or ask questions. Not when she had a gun.

  The sun inched higher, revealing a haze to the sky. Selene sniffed the air.

  She didn’t catch it at first, but then a light breeze blew.

  Wood smoke.

  Doesn’t matter what’s burning or where. Gotta get home.

  The traffic was getting worse, her anxiety growing with every step. She passed more housing developments nestled behind a screen of woods. None of this felt right.

  Every few seconds, a car passed, and the people inside stared at her.

  Still no sign of her road.

  Her stomach twisted, and when the passengers in yet another car stared at her as they drove by, she found herself blinking back exhausted tears.

  This had been her daydream—run away and survive. Blend in and be normal. She’d only ventured a few miles from home, and she couldn’t even handle that much.

  The traffic was picking up, and Selene’s lungs seized as she spotted a black car rounding the bend ahead.

  A cop car, with a Coalition symbol on the door.

  Selene kept her head down, Nan’s words from a long time ago filling her mind.

  “Living like this has its purpose.” Nan had said. “When you look weak and unimportant—if you look poor and like you’re barely getting by, others won’t see you as a threat. You become invisible.”

  It didn’t work.

  “Ma’am?”

  Selene lifted her head, trying to keep the terror from her face. The police car had rolled up alongside her, and the window was down.

  The cop, an overweight woman with brown hair, was talking to her.

  Selene stopped walking, and her cuff felt like it was on fire beneath her sleeve. “Yes?”

  “Can I ask why you’re walking out here right now?” The cop looked her up and down, suspiciously.

  This was it. It was all over. Selene’s mind raced, searching for an appropriate lie. What would someone her age say? “I… I was at… I was at my boyfriend’s house…”

  Selene felt her face grow warm, and she risked a glimpse at the cop, who had an amused look on her face now.

  “Headed home before your parents wake up?”

  Selene averted her eyes and nodded, trying not to puke.

  “Alright. I hope you’re not walking alone out here at night. You know that’s a fine, and we’ve had reports of wildlife recently.”

  Selene nodded and almost collapsed with relief as the cop pulled back onto the road and kept going.

  The second the cop disappeared around the bend, Selene started jogging, searching for the road she was supposed to turn onto.

  Every time she left the homestead, she screwed up. She drew too much attention to herself, did all the wrong things, made all the worst choices.

  First the thieves, then Anders, and now she was lost, and all it would take was one person noticing her gun for her to screw up everything even worse.

  Maybe the universe was trying to tell her something. That she didn’t belong out here, in the real world.

  Maybe she belonged in a guarded camp, where she wouldn’t have the chance to screw up. At least if she was there, she wouldn’t keep making mistakes that put Nan and Eli’s lives in danger.

  When she glimpsed another paved street ahead, she perked up with fresh hope. Was this her road? It had to be. It looked like it was. Selene turned left, grateful to be getting away from the traffic and the threat of another person trying to talk to her.

  The road was completely empty here, filled with thick forest. She was free to run, no one watching, so she did. If she was lucky, home would be just around the next bend.

  Selene ran at least a m
ile before the stitch in her side made her quit. She’d thought this was her road, but now she doubted herself… Nothing on the winding country road looked familiar yet. Just ahead, there were tire ruts in the ground that turned into the woods. Had she passed this last night?

  “Shit.” Selene spun around, but she couldn’t even see the road she’d been on before. She leaned over, hands on her knees, and took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Every problem could be solved. She wouldn’t remain lost forever. All she had to do was keep walking until something looked familiar.

  Gravel crunched behind her, and she whirled to find that a truck had emerged from the woods. She froze.

  Two boys, maybe near Selene’s age, sat in the cab, laughing. They looked like the kind of people she saw in town—expensive clothes—but they were driving an older model pick-up truck. They had a cooler in the back and what looked like camping supplies.

  Move before they see you.

  Keep going.

  Go into the woods. Or walk around the truck.

  Or cross the road to the other side.

  Do something!

  But Selene’s body wouldn’t obey her screaming mind.

  The driver, an attractive black man, had his hands on the steering wheel—they weren’t using autodrive. The passenger, a fair-skinned man with dark hair, caught sight of her, and he nudged his friend and said something. Then he rolled down his window and gestured to her.

  “Hey, whatcha doin’ out here all alone?” His tone was friendly, but there was something about the look in his bloodshot eyes that made Selene’s stomach lurch.

  Her legs finally listened. She dashed across the road and kept going in an awkward half jog, half walk. It was too hard to run when she couldn’t even breathe.

  She looked back.

  They were following her.

  As the low hum of the truck engine grew closer, Selene fought down panic, and the stitch in her side forced her to slow to a walk.

  Was she anywhere near home? She looked ahead at the road, but nothing looked familiar. Dread twisted in her belly, and her eyes burned as the truck slowed to match her pace.

  “Where you headed?” The passenger, the pale man with dark hair, leaned out the window. “Need a ride into town?”

  Selene’s heart raced, and she shook her head, not looking at the man.

  “Don’t be shy. We got plenty of room in here.”

  “No, thanks.” She forced the words out, keeping her head down. Her gun was on her right hip, where they couldn’t see it. She lightly touched it over her jacket, just to reassure herself it was still there. Not that she could use it without creating even worse problems for herself.

  “Gonna take a long time to walk to town,” the man called out.

  The guys exchanged low words and then laughed. Selene risked a glance in time to see the driver sneaking a drink from a dark bottle.

  “Look at her. She ain’t from town, Scott,” the driver said. “Not even sure she’s a citizen.”

  “What? No way. She’s too pretty to be an off-gridder.” Scott grinned at Selene and took a long drink from his own bottle. “Is my friend here right? You an off-gridder?”

  Selene looked away, a lump lodged in her throat, mind racing. What did they want from her? She needed them to leave, but they were drunk, and she had no idea how to make them go away.

  Were they drunk? Drunk driving was against the law, and no car would start with a drunk in the driver’s seat, even on autodrive. But in an older car, there are tricks to bypass the breathalyzer. Like whatever trick her father had used the night he wrapped the car around a tree. With her mother in the passenger seat. Bile inched up Selene’s throat.

  “Aw, don’t worry.” Scott said. “We don’t judge. In fact, we love off-grid girls. They’re always willing to trade, right Dion?”

  The driver laughed again.

  Selene glanced behind her, desperately wishing more cars would appear. But the highway was empty in both directions. She walked faster. How long until she saw something familiar? Where was her dirt drive? It was too hard to breathe.

  “Hey!” The truck sped up. “Why you runnin’ away?”

  Selene hung her head and just kept walking, ignoring them, willing herself to be invisible.

  “You sure you don’t want a ride?”

  “I said no thank you.” Selene’s voice nearly broke, and she glanced at the truck again.

  The driver, Dion, winked at her. “Just get in. We’ll give you the best ride you ever had.”

  Selene’s stomach knotted, and her hand slipped beneath her jacked, settling on her gun. “I said. No. Leave me alone.”

  Scott’s eyes flashed, and his friendly smile disappeared. “What’s wrong, bitch? You in one of those off-grid cults? God tell you to save yourself?”

  “Nah, we’re just not her type,” Dion replied, taking another drink. “What’s an off-grid girl do when her brother says it’s time to trade?”

  “She opens her legs.” Scott grinned and took another swig of beer. “That what y’all do behind those fences?”

  “Go to hell.” Selene said it quietly, her cheeks hot.

  “Whoa!” Dion said. “You kiss your Daddy with those lips?”

  “That’s not the only thing she does.”

  Selene’s pulse buzzed in her ears, blocking out their taunts. Her shoulders caved. Don’t respond. Don’t say anything else. Stay small, look away, wait for them to leave. Be boring. Unattractive. Become invisible.

  But… what if being invisible was the reason they were taunting her in the first place? Selene’s skin prickled. The thieves had been able to get away with stealing everything because she, Nan, and Eli were invisible. Vulnerable, unable to call for help and have anyone answer.

  And right now, Selene felt vulnerable. If she cried for help… no one would come.

  Scott finished another sick joke about her, and Dion laughed.

  “Come here, babe,” Scott drawled. “You can sit on my lap.”

  Selene’s vision blurred, and she found herself nearly jogging again.

  “You can call me Daddy.” Scott yelled after her. “I don’t mind.”

  “Fuck. Off.” The words escaped before Selene could stop them.

  Dion said something, and Scott argued back. Then the truck accelerated.

  Selene slowed, but the truck kept going.

  They were leaving. Relief flooded her, making her shaky.

  As the bumper passed her by, Scott leaned out the window and hurled something right at her. She couldn’t move fast enough. The brown bottle flew through the air and slammed into her shoulder.

  Beer sprayed everywhere.

  Selene started to shake, her shoulder throbbing, beer dripping down her face, too shocked to react.

  The truck came to an abrupt halt.

  Then it shifted into reverse.

  Selene’s mouth went dry as it returned to where she stood.

  “I ain’t neighbors with a cop, and my parents can’t get me out of no litter fine.” Dion’s voice drifted out the window. “I bought that. They’ll track it to my bitstick!”

  Scott glared at Selene from the passenger seat. “Sorry, Di. I saw the trash by the road and got confused.”

  Selene’s hand slid over the gun concealed beneath her jacket, loosening it in its holster. She took a few steps back.

  Scott hopped down and strode toward her.

  Selene stood taller, forcing herself to meet his eyes. She would not look afraid.

  He plucked the bottle off the ground and tossed it overhand into the bed of the truck. Then he lunged for her, with no warning. His hand twisted in her hair, forcing her head back.

  “You got a filthy mouth on ya.” His sour breath hit her full-force. “Why don’t you show me what else it can do?”

  “I would.” Selene’s gun slipped free from the holster. Adrenaline surged through her, as she brought it around, aiming low. “But I prefer to
use my hands.”

  Scott glanced down. He froze, eyes widening at the sight of the gun buried in his crotch.

  “Let. Go.” Selene jammed the gun into Scott’s jeans.

  He let out a grunt and released her hair.

  She stepped back quickly, raising the weapon until it was aimed at his chest.

  “Scott?” Dion had gotten out of the truck and was coming around the front. He waded through the tall grass, unsteady on his feet. His eyes widened when he saw her gun, and he cursed and raised his arms.

  “On your knees,” Selene said. “Both of you.”

  They dropped down—Scott a foot ahead of her, Dion near the front tire of the truck. Selene’s mind cleared, adrenaline giving her laser focus.

  Rage twisted in her chest, making her hot. These assholes had picked the wrong week to fuck with her. Why couldn’t people just leave her alone? A scream of frustration bubbled up from the depths of her being and got stuck in her throat. She let out a breath and glared at Scott, who looked ready to piss himself.

  “No means no, you pricks.”

  “We’re sorry,” Dion said, slurring. “We—”

  “Shut up.” Selene blew out another breath and wiped her chin against her shoulder to remove the beer still dripping down her face. She took a quick glance at the highway. Still empty in both directions.

  Dark clouds were gathering in the sky ahead. Another morning storm.

  Selene needed to figure out what to do before someone else drove by this disaster.

  Scott glanced back at Dion, and Dion was gesturing something. He shifted in the grass, and Selene’s reflexes kicked in. She fired off a warning shot to his left. It pierced the front tire.

  Dion let out a yelp, and startled birds erupted from the trees.

  Selene took fast breaths. Air hissed from the tire, and the boys didn’t move.

  I have to get out of here.

  These jerks needed to be stuck here, trapped so she’d have time to get away. They could not follow her. She turned and fired off a second shot, taking out the back tire, just to be sure.

  The low electric hum of the engine suddenly cut out, and an alarm sounded in the cabin.